If you were put at a gunpoint and asked to tell 5 women who have a great presence in football media, you probably would have lost your life. Can you name a few? Maybe Kelly Cates & Gabby Logan are a few of the names that would ring a bell. And, that’s it!
But one name that’s striding her feet toward the media breaking the norms is Laura Woods. She is one of the leading female broadcasters who is breaking the stereotype of the male-dominated sports industry. The one with a beautiful cheeky smile, Laura Woods is remembered by casual fans for her Q&A sessions with various football stars. She is also the talkSport breakfast host who has interviewed many footballers from the likes of Virgil Van Dyk to Bruno Fernandes. After a decade of experience in the field, she is slowly becoming a household name.
As good as she is on the mic, she can also give a good run for your money if you are one of those keyword warriors. When a guy tweeted Laura asking when she will join Brazzers, she had a fitting comeback, “When your mum makes space for the rest of us.” Ouch!
But this is all about her professional life. What is Laura in real life? Here is what we know about her.
| Quick Facts About Laura Woods | |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | July 2, 1987 |
| Parents | Michelle Woods and Steve Woods |
| Siblings | 2 |
| Profession | Television and Radio Presenter |
| Education | Kingston University |
| Height | 5 ft 9 inches |
| Relationship Status | Single |
| Ex-Partner | Alex Corbisiero |
| Net Worth | Under Review |
| @laurawoodsy |
Her Life Before Entering into Sports
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Laura Woods was born on July 2, 1987, in London, Neutral to Michelle and Steve Woods. She grew up in Surrey alongside her two brothers. Laura and her brothers were raised by her mother alone. Her brothers were rugby players whereas her thing was gymnastics.
But, when she was seven years old her mother asked her to play rugby because her mother didn’t have enough money to pay for petrol to take them to different venues. Eventually, she agreed and started playing rugby. She then played in the mixed team at Old Caterhamians near her home in Surrey. She was the only girl on the team. Since then she garnered an interest in sports.
Throwing light on her educational background, she is a graduate of Kingston University with a BA degree in print journalism. After achieving all her educational degrees, she used them in her career and moved to the sports field looking for her prolific career.
How Did Laura Start her Career?
Laura Woods has become one of the top sports figures in the television industry now. From an early age, she wanted to get involved in the sports media, and her dad and two brothers have heavily influenced her. Her aspirations led her to study print journalism at Kingston University where she began compiling match reports for student newspapers. But, it wasn’t her projects that led her way to Sky Sports.
It was a random travelling break between University years that gave her the opportunity to be associated with Sky Sports. She met a fellow traveller who had worked at Sky sports and the random guy passed all the necessary contacts. Laura who was desperate to work with Sky Sports sent several emails and finally was offered a one-week chance to work at Sky Sports.
In the initial days, she worked as a runner making coffees and teas on Soccer Am at Sky Sports. After gaining a one-week experience, she returned to University and completed her education. She then tried really hard to get a full-time job at Sky Sports and made her way to becoming an editorial assistant. Woods learned to produce different shows, cut edits and started working on every sport that the Sky covered. She then got the opportunity to produce shows on her one but that wasn’t enough.
Laura always wanted to work in front of the camera. So, she started her own Youtube series “Off the Oche” borrowing cameras from the sets. The show was about chitchat with date players. Talking about her show and her career beginnings, she commented:
“I asked my boss if he could put them on Sky Sports Darts and he let me. Gradually from there, little by little, opportunities came through from different producers for different Sports. Like NFL Pitch Side at Wembley and Game Changers, which was a kid show, speedway, and then eventually darts.”
Further, she added:
“It’s really just taking every opportunity that you possibly can and knocking on all doors, going to producers, and begging people to have faith in you. And it’s a credit to the producers really. And that’s why I think it’s important to know every role in TV production.’
Her years of struggle finally paid off when she was given the opportunity to present the show on Soccer AM. During her career, Laura has had an impressive list of interviewees including Paul Pogba, David Beckham, Frank Lampard, Jurgen Klopp, Harry Kane, and many others. Since then she has established herself at Sky Sports and now hosts the popular show talkSport Breakfast Show.
Laura’s Work at Sky Sports
Laura Woods has become one of the leading female broadcasters in the sports industry. Her versatile broadcasting skills and unphased nature has led her to present Sky’s various projects including Super Sunday covering multiple Premiere league output. She began her career as a presenter with the show Game Changers. She then started reporting on the NFL and joined Soccer AM. In this course, in 2016, she travelled to Europe to present the show “Carling in off the Bar”.
Over time, Woods has now become a regular pitch-side reporter on Super Sunday which she hosts alongside Gary Neville. Likewise, she also hosts “The Debate” alongside Geoff Shreeves and David Prutton.
Apart from showing her charm on television, she has also created waves in the radio industry and her biggest achievement as a Radio Jockey includes the talkSPORT.
Becoming the Main Host of talkSPORT’s Breakfast Show
Laura Woods has become the main host of talkSport’s Sports Breakfast Show on March 30, 2020. She will host the show on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday whereas Alan Brazil will present the show on Thursday and Friday. The show will include breaking news and new features to attract new audiences and guests from sports and entertainment will join the show. The show will continue to feature station favourites like Ray Parlour, Darren Bent, Jake Wood, Jamie O’Hara, and Steve Harmison.
Laura after becoming the main host thanked radio legend, Alan, for his continuous support and revealed how excited she was to begin her new journey. Laura told:
“Ever since I was little, talkSPORT has played a major role in my life. It’s always been in every room in the house and in the car when my day used to drive us around. I’ve grown up just like you as part of this audience.”
Further, she continued:
“So when I first got the job of reviewing the papers on Alan’s show, it really was one of my proudest moments. Since then, this team, and this company, have very much become my family. It’s one of the greatest honors of my life to tell you that every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I’ll be in the hot seat as the host of talkSPORT breakfast.
Apart from this, her portfolio also includes corporate and live work, working with popular brands like Adidas, Nike, and Barclays. Moreover, she has also hosted The Times Sportswoman of the Year Awards, London Football Awards, and various events for Premier League Football Clubs.
Personal Life: Whom is she dating?
Laura has established herself in the male-dominated football industry like a queen. The girl has overcome every hurdle that came her way and now is a ruling lady in the sports industry. She follows in the footsteps of Kelly Cates, Gabby Logan, and Jacqui Oatley. Thereby she keeps her head high and is seeking to go forward to take a long jump in her career. While we know every single piece of information about her professional life we do little know about her personal life.
She keeps her personal life quite private and hardly talks about it. However, as per wiki, she dated former England Rugby player Alex Corbisiero for eight years before calling it a quit. Apart from this, nothing is known about her dating life.
Her First English Teacher Was her Biggest Inspiration
In an interview with squaremile, when asked about her inspiration outside of her family, she answered ‘My First English Teacher Mrs Burrell.’ When she was at her school, she was impatient and couldn’t sit calmly for just five minutes and her attention span was non-existent. She would get punished every other day in school. But, her teacher Burrell helped her to be disciplined and realize her potential. Woods said:
She kept me on a very tight leash, a discipline where needed, and encouragement otherwise. She refocused me every time I slipped and made me realize my potential.
Dealing with Trolls on Social Media
There are still some guys over there who can’t digest the success of a woman and one of those guys made a comment on Laura’s Twitter post. A guy named Tom tried to troll her by commenting when she is joining Brazzers in one of her posts. But, Laura shut the mouth of that keyboard warrior with a good response. Replying to the guy, she wrote ‘when your mum makes space for the rest of us’.
She has time and again spoken about the impact of social media when it comes to people questioning a woman’s ability to work in the sport. In an interview with Daily Mirror, she commented:
“Social media will tell you all the time you’re there because you’re a woman, you’re this, you’re that but if that was the case, I would have broken into presenting ten years ago.”
She further added:
“It took me ten years to work to get to this point. People aren’t just going to put you on the screen if you don’t know what you’re talking about. You have to work equally as hard as men, and in areas harder because the audience is going to be tough on you because there’s a level of (skepticism) as some may assume you don’t know what you’re talking about or you’re there to balance the books.”
How much is Laura’s Net Worth?
After spending almost a decade in the Sports industry, Woods must have gathered a beautiful net worth. She is well-known in social media and has earned an abundant income as a presenter, reporter, and writer. Therefore, we can assume her net worth is pretty much attractive. However, the exact net worth of Laura Woods is still under review.
Social Media Presence
Laura has always been active on social media like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter being a public figure. Being a recognized face, she ha followed by 234k followers on Instagram, and 363.1k followers on Twitter. Her social media accounts are full of posts with sports news.